Art of giving exploring the motivations of donors

Abstract

NGOs in Gujarat have always depended on multi-lateral donor agencies for resources. But with foreign support decreasing from the state, the NGOs need to look for resources locally. And to do that, they need to understand the motivations that compel a person to give. The study aims at finding out the motivations of people who give to NGOs that are non-religious in nature. The study s objectives are to find out the internal and external motivations of donors and check the influence of communication in motivating a donor. This is a qualitative exploratory study and 30 respondents were interviewed with an interview guideline. The interviews were recorded with permission from the respondents and thematic analysis method was used to identify the basic, organizing and global themes. The themes that emerged from this study are internal satisfaction, giving back to the society, social status, income tax rebate, empathy, inculcating values in children, social recognition and others. Among all of these, social status, income tax rebate and social recognition are external motivations. The respondents were influenced largely by their parents when they were young, followed by their grandparents, teachers, school and inlaws. A little less than half of the respondents believed in God but not in religion. The remaining were divided between believers of religion and God and non-believers. Also, half of the respondents also gave to religious causes which means that people who do not believe in religion also gave to religious causes. There was also a prominent influence of parents religious views on their children with many people saying that they were influenced by their beliefs. Belief in karma emerged as a key theme of this study. The findings answer all the questions the research set to answer. People seemed to give because they believed in helping others and giving back to the society. Most people believed that giving was a good karma. The findings of the study can help NGO approach their supporters targeting these specific.